Free template · Word, Google Docs, Markdown
Blog post template built for Google and AI answers.
A good blog post answers the reader’s question right at the start, splits the rest into clear subheadings and shows who wrote it, when it was last checked and what it is based on. Our template gives you that structure as a Word file and as Markdown, with a note on every section. Free, no email address needed.
What’s inside
A blog post in the right order. With notes on why.
The template is a framework, not a fill-in-the-blanks form: every section has a grey note on what goes in and why. You delete the notes before you publish.
Editorial brief
Everything that should be settled before you write, at a glance. It doesn’t get published.
- Primary keyword, secondary keywords, search volume
- Search intent and target URL
- Title tag and meta description
- Author, expert review, date
- Internal links and call to action
The post
Answer first, details after. That way a reader, and any system that puts answers together, finds the right passage fast.
- H1 with primary keyword, byline, date
- Short answer in 2–4 sentences, key takeaways
- Subheadings as questions, steps, a table
- A section with first-hand experience
- Checklist, bottom line, FAQ
Evidence and checks
What makes a post trustworthy, plus a list to tick off before you publish.
- About the author, with a link
- “Last updated” with a date
- Sources with access dates
- Ten-point pre-publish checklist
- Google’s documentation for every note, linked
Step by step
How to write a blog post with the template.
The order of the steps isn’t the order of the post. You start with the question and the answer, and write the intro last, if at all.
Fill in the editorial brief
Before the first sentence, decide which search query the post answers, what the reader wants to do next and which URL it will live at. If you already keep a content calendar, copy the row from there.
Check whether your site already has a page for the same primary keyword. If it does, improve that page instead.
Write the short answer first
In two to four sentences, answer the question from the H1. The first sentence is the answer itself, not a lead-in. Someone who reads only this paragraph should know what they need.
A paragraph that makes sense on its own also works as an excerpt, for example in a search result or an AI answer.
Build subheadings from real questions
Collect the questions readers have about the topic: from Google’s “People also ask”, from customer enquiries, from Search Console. Every important question becomes a subheading, the rest go into the FAQ at the end.
Test: read only the first sentence of each section. Is the answer to the heading there?
Add first-hand experience
Fill the “From our experience” section with something only you have: an analysis of real customer questions, your own measurements, photos from your business, a customer case with numbers (only with approval).
Google distinguishes commodity content that anyone could write from content with first-hand experience, and recommends the latter.
Show who wrote it and where the numbers come from
Every number gets a source, ideally the original, with an access date. Below the post go the author with role and link, and the date of the last update.
Run the checklist, delete the notes
Go through the checklist at the end of the template: short answer, sources, title tag and description, internal links, alt text, no second page for the same keyword. Then delete all grey notes and square brackets, and publish.
Know-how
What Google says about structure. And what it doesn’t.
The notes in the template are based on Google’s own documentation, accessed October 8, 2026. Here are the key points with sources, so you can check them yourself.
Structure yes, chunking no
Google writes that people appreciate pages organized by paragraphs and sections, with headings that give structure. Breaking content into tiny pieces for AI is not required, and there is no ideal page length.
According to Google, there are no additional requirements and no special schema markup for the AI features in Google Search.
Google: Optimizing for generative AIWho, how, why
Google suggests asking three questions about any piece of content: who created it, how was it made, why does it exist? That includes bylines where readers expect them, leading to more information about the author. Google explicitly warns against made-up author profiles.
Google also says it has no preferred word count.
Google: Creating helpful contentDates: visible, and only new for real changes
Google recommends a visible date with a label such as “Published” or “Last updated”. At the same time, Google lists changing the date of pages to make them seem fresh, when the content hasn’t substantially changed, as a warning sign.
Google: Byline datesFAQ: for readers, not for rich results
Google stopped showing FAQ rich results on May 7, 2026 and removed the documentation in June 2026. The FAQ block at the end is still worth it: it answers questions the main text leaves open.
Google: Documentation updatesTitle tag and description: no fixed length
Google sets no fixed character limit for title tags or meta descriptions, but truncates them in results to fit the screen. That is why the template suggests about 50–60 characters for the title and 120–155 for the description, as a rule of thumb.
Google: Title linksDownload
Download for free. No email, no sign-up.
blog-post-template.docx
Word (.docx)
With heading styles, an editorial brief and notes on a grey background. Also opens in Google Docs, Pages and LibreOffice.
Download the Word templateblog-post-template.md
Markdown (.md)
For Notion, Obsidian, Git-based websites or pasting into your CMS editor. Notes as blockquotes.
Download Markdown- Google Docs: upload the Word file to Google Drive and open it with Google Docs.
- Notion: “Import” reads Word and Markdown files.
- Free to use and adapt, including as a template for your whole team.
Questions
Good to know.
How do you structure a blog post?
Answer first: an H1 that picks up the question, a short answer of two to four sentences below it, then subheadings that each answer one reader question. At the end come the bottom line, FAQ, author, date and sources. The template is built in exactly this order.
What is the proper format for a blog post?
There is no single required format, but a few elements help almost every post: one H1, a short answer at the top, subheadings with the answer in their first sentence, lists or tables where readers compare things, a visible author and date, and sources for every number.
How long should a blog post be?
As long as the question needs. Google explicitly says it has no preferred word count and that there is no ideal page length. A simple question deserves a short answer, a comparison with a table runs longer.
Does a blog post need an FAQ section?
Not necessarily, but it helps when readers have follow-up questions the main text leaves open. It no longer earns rich results in Google Search: Google stopped showing FAQ rich results on May 7, 2026.
Can I use the template in Google Docs or Notion?
Yes. Open the Word file in Google Docs by uploading it to Google Drive. Notion imports Word and Markdown files directly. The Markdown version also suits websites that manage posts as text files.
Is the template really free?
Yes. You download both files directly, with no email address and no sign-up. You are free to use and adapt them.
More templates
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One row in the content calendar becomes the editorial brief of the blog post template.
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Claire covers the whole way: finding the topic, researching, writing, fact-checking, adding images and links, and publishing. Afterwards she keeps older posts up to date.
- Topics your customers search for
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